The windy/rain level from Ninja Gaiden 2 was my favourite. The music was just so damn good.

The bird is the actual boss of the game.

I played this game recently. Wasn't able to beat it but I will say that Ninja Gaiden's infamous difficulty really begins at stage 6. The earlier levels are pretty much just preparing you for it.

I finished this game back in the day... yeah it was brutal. When I re did it with an emulator I didn't remember how hard it was and can barely understand how I did it without save states.

This is easily my favorite game on NES. To me, the best part of Ninja Gaiden is that once you figure out how to thread the needle, the same strategy will more or less work every time, meaning that once you memorize the game to the end, you can essentially speedrun the whole game. Its immensely satisfying to see hours and hours of practice culminate in a high octane blitz to the final boss

The second one is my favorite. It’s much easier, for the record. The 3rd game is awesome, and due to it’s difficulty, I have probably played it most of the trilogy. Love them all.

Many NES controllers died around the world because of these games, some of them were slammed on the floor, on the wall, some died of exhaustion... they will be remembered.

Wow, i didn't have a NES back in the day so it was even more difficult to play. Luckily, I liked this game so much that I became very good on it. People let me advance and beat the game so they could see all the story unfold. I had to provide translation as well due that I am cuban and we speak Spanish lol. I beat first Gaiden 2 (my favorite) and later Gaiden 1. Gaiden 3 was so late in the Nes live span that i wasn't able to play it that much. I have a doubt with it to beat it in a emulator, though ;P. Good review by the way SNESDRUNK love your channel.

Good review. I personally enjoy the 2nd one better. It's like super ghouls an ghosts you just have to sit down and memorize it

This game has some of my favorite video game music ever.

Such great music!

I'm so glad NSO has the rewind feature. It allowed me to experience this gem from beginning to end :)

This is still fantastic to this day!

Great review!

Another good review. Keep it up!

I've got the famicom cartridges for all 3 of these, and it's funny how much easier 3 is on famicom vs NES. It still gets tough once you get to like stage 6 or 7, but it's really easy before that, much more so than the NES version since a lot of the absurd instant death traps aren't there.

I beat all three of these games. It really does come down to memorizing enemy spawns so you can attack them as you jump ahead and not get surprised. And using the right weapon at the right time. I feel the first game is harder because it doesn't conveniently give you the weapon you need as you need it so you have to be careful about which weapons you pick up because its useful for a later jump. In 2 it's easier because if you pop all the item bulbs you always kind of get what you need. Downward fireballs when you need to jump down onto a platform where there is an enemy. There are very few instances in 2 where I feel I shouldn't pop a bulb because it contains a regular ninja star or replaces a weapon I'll need for the rest of the level or to easily beat a boss. Of course I played 2 so much that I knew all of that and can speed run it no problem.

Ryu Hyabusa's father is named Ken. Ken and Ryu. This seems familiar. This is one of my favorite Nes games to be honest because I like the art style story music and gameplay. Never beat it though cuz I'm shit too.

Loved the video, but I guess i am biased because I LOVE NG as well... ^^

Love your reviews, I am a big fan of the original Ninja Gaiden games, thankfully unlimited continues. You mentioned you are playing this on a retron 5? Have you tried any of the scanline filters and such? I have to admit I am not a big fan of those smoothing filters, I like as close to the source material as possible. I am thinking of going to a xrgb mini set up when I have to move and can't take my CRT with me.

Ninja Gaiden was pretty brutal, and it took me awhile to beat it. These days people look at it like it's some impossible task. It makes it so much fun when they see someone play it with skill.

The Famicom version for Ninja Gaiden 3 is really Easy (I mean Medium) comparred the USA version and one of my Favourite Platform games EVER!!!

This is the hardest game I was able to beat. I could never finish games on the Battletoads, Silver Surfer and Ghost and Goblins level. I love the controls and game play. Hard as nails but still super fun.

The music is so good

Never thought theses games were as hard as people make them out to be. I enjoyed all of them.

The trick with Ninja Gaiden is that you can't stop running. Ever. Don't back track. It's the first and best run-n-gun. The end final bosses are definitely hard, but the game itself, with some practice, is probably one of the easier games. It's all memorization. Who appears where, when, and at what point you need to jump or slash. But don't stop. If you stop, you lose the advantage of speed and surprise on enemies and the respawn just devours you.

I beat 1 and 2. 1 is definitely harder. I remember the only way to beat level 6 was memorizing EVERYTHING, then using the whirlwind sword on the hawk which would leave me with two whirlwind swords attacks left to defeat the boss. That game was brutal, definetly the hardest game I've ever beaten. I didn't even bother with 3. They "tweaked" the physics, and added limited continues. F that

I'd recommend the SMS game if you want an easier time with a NG. It's its own game while borrowing elements from all three NES games IIRC, but the story and music is a bit lacking. First one for NES is definitely the most iconic.

Easily my favorite game of all time. I never beaten it either. But it's still so addictive.

Ninja gaiden is NOT unfair. Its hard but fair. I also love the respawning enemies it keeps you on your toes and forces you to go fast.

I always thought the sequels just became easier. Ninja gaiden 3 just really dropped in difficulty as you get a giant sword and wall climbing is not longer a threat. But level 6 in the original can be very frustrating in an otherwise very fun game. The enemy spawning is a bit like learning a dance. Go through the right motions (takes a lot of trial and error) and you can really use it to your advantage.

Probably my favorite NES series of all time. Everything is fun until the dreaded last stage lol. BTW pt 2 & 3 were much easier than the 1st one. Wall climbing makes a big difference lol

I've played part 2 so much that while still frustrating, I was able to beat all three without the use of the special powers so much. I think 1 is the hardest.

Did you play this on the PC? I have the original NS and the controls are tight and responsive to me. AS for 2, it is beatable but 3 is a torture chamber.

My absolute favorite video game trilogy of all time

I enjoyed your review, good job, but I have to disagree with your criticism of the controls. The controls in this game are very tight and never screw up that I can tell. At least that's true on original hardware. You might have experienced some issues with your emulator or PC. Even a slight hitch or delay in control sampling would be a problem here.

Ninja Gaiden is hard on the later stages. And NG2 and NG3 are easier, the 3rd one is a breeze. Edit: I had to go over gamefaqs to see the general consensus about the difficulty, and I was amazed that NG 3 is considered the hardest, which is a suprise for me. I played the hell out out of the 3 as a kid and I remember the 3rd being one of my favourite games of all time. I will revisit them eventually.

Im late but jsut wanna add you dont have unlimited continues once you get to i think 5.3 u get sent back to 4 and once you get to the final 3 bosses if you lose you get sent back to the beginning spent about 20 years lf my life ln this game finally beat it in the early 200s

I only managed to beat this game by using the spinslash on the final two bosses

I have beaten the first two Ninja Gaiden games many times

I cannot begin to tell you the exhilaration i felt beating this game after a sleepless night of suffering. Yeah i did it with a savestate. But whatever, i fucking beat it and that's all i care about lol

I see where the Soulsborne series took its cue from

ninja gaiden 2 was much easier than Gaiden 1. Also you say NG1 was the hardest, which is pretty spot on. BUT you didn't mention NG3 which has what? LIMITED Continues unlike the other two. NG2 improved on a lot of things and was forgivable with deaths. Where as in NG1 if you died on the final boss phases the game pushes you back to stage 6-1. Other than that, fine points overall, but you did leave out some details.

The secret to beating this game is keeping the orange ninja star power up...

Weird to hear someone saying the jankiest and least fair of the Ninja Gaiden games is the least hard. 2 and 3 are *much* easier for the most part, and the controls are much more ironed out, especially re: wall jumps. Also, the power-ups are much more generally useful for non-experts, especially with 3's "here's just a big sword".

You forgot to mention that if you die in the last battle with the final boss you don't get back to the last part of the level as in other levels, you get back to the entrance of the tower, which is brutal... that's what killed the game for me when I was a kid

I'm surprised you didn't talk about the SNES remake of the three games. Personally I prefer the NES titles. The graphics look weird and the music is just bad on the SNES version.

I feel I'm among the elite few that beat Ninja Gaiden 2 in cartridge form. The other two I had to save state ad nauseum.

I don't get it. The only Ninja Gaiden game I was ever able to finish is the 2nd one. Way easier, I find. Also, Castlevania 3 is hard? As a kid, I could finish it blindfolded, as opposed to the 1st one that I very rarely was able to even reach the final stage. I never even got to see Dracula once!

This game is very difficult but of course somebody was able to beat it with a no hit run.

I have beaten the first two games without a Game Genie.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you. Ninja Gaiden 2 is definitely easier than it's predecessor. Though that's not saying much. They're both hard as balls. It's just that 2 is slightly easier than 1 because of the ghost power up.

Love your Channel. Me and my 13 year old son are big fans ! He even has his own Retro Video Game channel ( Retro Shinobi ) It would be awesome if you would comment and subscribe . It would make his day ! Thanks and Keep doing What your doing Awesome Videos. Love seeing the reviews ! Helps us pick out games to buy !

Ninja Gaiden 3 is the worst for the simple reason that it's the only one without unlimited continues.

It's almost as if every single person on planet earth thinks this game is hard, but it really isn't (and this isn't me being like "oh look at me i am so good", i am serious i don't think it's a hard game) It's as if everyone agreed on it, did people play this game?

Ninja Gaiden 2 is better than the original. Just sayin'

Shinobi 3 is the best Ninja Video Game.

There is nothing worth playing the NES Ninja Gaiden. Is a "cheap" game in nearly all aspects. Especially the bad (and not difficult, it`s bad) gameplay and level design is a reason to not play it!

Dude it's not that hard LOL

My all-time favorite game, with the NES sequels close behind. I've played it so damn much I can sometimes beat it without dying now. I don't really agree when people say it's one of the hardest NES games, though; you do at least have unlimited continues and the Whirlwind ability breaks the game, especially on the bosses. I still can't beat games like Battletoads to this day.